CIMA BA1 study plan
CIMA BA1 · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Fundamentals of Business Economics & Fundamentals of Management Accounting
Define the core microeconomic concepts the syllabus tests: scarcity, opportunity cost, demand and supply determinants, and market equilibrium shifts.
Calculate and interpret price, income and cross elasticities of demand, and explain how each affects a firm's pricing and revenue decisions.
Distinguish fixed, variable, semi-variable and stepped costs, and separate them using the high-low method on a supplied data set.
Explain how perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly differ in pricing power and output decisions.
Your checkpoint
A one-page formula and definition sheet covering elasticity, cost classification and market structures, plus 15 self-written practice calculations with worked answers.
Fundamentals of Management Accounting
Prepare a schedule of costs of goods manufactured and sold from raw data, correctly treating opening and closing inventory of materials, work in progress and finished goods.
Apportion and reapportion overheads using the direct, step-down and reciprocal methods, then compute predetermined absorption rates.
Calculate and explain over- and under-absorption of overheads and state the accounting treatment of each.
Apply absorption and marginal costing to the same data set and reconcile the resulting profit difference.
Your checkpoint
A full cost accounting workbook for one scenario: overhead reapportionment, absorption rates, product costs under both costing methods, and a written profit reconciliation of at least 150 words.
Fundamentals of Management Accounting
Compute break-even point, margin of safety and target profit in units and in revenue, and interpret each figure for a manager.
Draw and interpret a break-even chart and a profit-volume chart, identifying the assumptions that limit their usefulness.
Prepare a cash budget and a functional budget from opening balances and stated collection and payment patterns.
Calculate standard cost variances for materials, labour and fixed overheads, and classify each as favourable or adverse.
Your checkpoint
A budgeting and variance pack: one break-even analysis, one cash budget, and a variance computation table with a 200-word interpretation of the three largest variances.
Fundamentals of Business Economics & Fundamentals of Management Accounting
Explain the macroeconomic environment affecting business: inflation, unemployment, interest rates, exchange rates and the business cycle.
Distinguish fiscal from monetary policy and describe the likely effect of each on demand, costs and investment decisions.
Evaluate relevant costing decisions, including make-or-buy, accept-or-reject special orders and limiting factors, using contribution per unit of scarce resource.
Link cost behaviour and pricing decisions to elasticity and competitive structure in a single applied scenario.
Your checkpoint
A timed 40-question mock covering Domains 1 and 2, scored and reviewed, with a written error log naming the specific concept behind every wrong answer.
Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
Apply the qualitative characteristics and fundamental accounting concepts to decide how a transaction should be recognised and measured.
Record transactions using double entry and prepare a trial balance, correcting errors through journal entries and suspense accounts.
Prepare an income statement and statement of financial position from an adjusted trial balance, including depreciation, accruals, prepayments and irrecoverable debts.
Reconcile a bank statement to the cash book and explain the treatment of unpresented cheques, uncredited lodgements and bank charges.
Your checkpoint
A complete set of final accounts for one practice scenario, including journal adjustments, an extended trial balance and a bank reconciliation, checked against a self-built marking key.
Fundamentals of Financial Accounting & Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law
Prepare and interpret a statement of cash flows and calculate the main profitability, liquidity, efficiency and gearing ratios from published-style financial statements.
Explain the regulatory framework for financial reporting and the role of the standard setter, and outline the purpose of a conceptual framework.
Identify the main provisions of business law relevant to the syllabus, including contract formation, offer and acceptance, consideration and breach of contract.
Distinguish the principal forms of business organisation and explain the legal implications of incorporation, limited liability and agency.
Your checkpoint
A ratio analysis report of about 400 words on one set of financial statements, drawing three evidence-based conclusions and one limitation of ratio comparison.
Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law
Apply a recognised ethical decision-making model to a workplace dilemma and justify a recommended course of action.
Explain the role of corporate governance codes, the board, audit committees and internal control in safeguarding stakeholder interests.
Identify threats to objectivity and independence, such as self-interest and self-review, and state the appropriate safeguard for each.
Describe the legal duties of directors and the consequences of fraudulent and wrongful trading in outline.
Your checkpoint
Two written ethics case responses of 250 words each, each naming the ethical principle at stake, the threat identified, the safeguard applied and the justified decision.
Fundamentals of Business Economics & Fundamentals of Management Accounting & Fundamentals of Financial Accounting & Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law
Consolidate all four domains by re-testing every objective missed in earlier weeks until each is answered correctly twice.
Complete two full-length timed mocks under exam conditions and record section-level scores to identify the weakest domain.
Practise constructed-response answers, structuring workings so that method marks are earned even when the final figure is wrong.
Build a final one-page revision sheet of formulae, definitions and governance principles for last-day review.
Your checkpoint
Two completed mock exams with score logs, a closed-out error log showing zero unresolved objectives, and a final one-page revision sheet.
Milestones
Week 2: Can produce a cost of goods manufactured and sold statement and reapportion overheads without reference notes, scoring at least 70% on 20 self-set calculation questions.
Week 4: Scores at least 65% on a timed 40-question mock across Domains 1 and 2, with every error logged against a named syllabus concept.
Week 6: Prepares final accounts from an adjusted trial balance and computes ten key ratios accurately, with no more than two arithmetic slips in the full set.
Week 8: Scores at least 70% on two full-length timed mocks and has no unresolved items remaining in the error log across all four domains.